Overload

Lately, I have begun to experience feelings of a slightly dark nature, feelings that I don’t have much of an outlet for. So what better place to meditate on such apocalyptic musings as a blog where everyone can share in the joy, er misery, or how about the apathy that I am trapped in? I feel pretty confident that I am not the only one wrapped up in this ugly cycle. Maybe we can all vent collectively.

Issue 1 – The Oil Spill. WTF? (I know that use of the term WTF is not that eloquent or original, but go with it.) Does anyone else have ridiculously overwhelming and lingering depressing feelings about it? It seemed like day after day as the news networks covered millions upon millions of gallons of oil spilling into the Gulf of Mexico, there was little to be done. Every day, press conferences would be held; partisan politicos would yell at each other, and nothing would get accomplished. We are being told that fish stocks will be ruined for a generation, coral reefs throughout the region will die, and a large part of the oil is trapped thousands of feet below the surface and there is no viable solution for cleaning up oil in the water at those depths. In a freak coincidence, I finished an oceanography course this past spring and what they’re not telling you on the news is that sunlight only penetrates the first 100 feet or so into the ocean, maybe down to 200 feet in exceptionally clear water. So oil that is trapped at 1000 feet below the surface or 2000 feet below the surface has no chance of being broken down by sunlight. It may be there for decades, if not a century or more. Yet there are no technological solutions for this problem. Even potential solutions would need to be tested and researched and by the time that work is complete, the oil will likely have been broken down into some other byproduct that needs a new solution. Sigh. I just don’t really want to think about it. It makes me ill.

Issue 2 – The Economy. Anyone? I cannot wrap my head around the complex issues that we are dealing with because I’m not a figures person. Several issues here, all boggling my mind. The first is the banks. Our government just bailed them out with hundreds of billions of dollars in the past two years. So now they are reporting record profits and doling out enormous bonuses, but yet they can’t loosen their belts and begin to lend to businesses across the country to stimulate the economy? WTF? (There’s that expression again.) They can’t modify people’s home loans and stop foreclosing on them? (I realize that a lot of people bit off more than they could chew and should not have bought such large homes in the first place, but the responsible people who really are making an effort should be given a break.) I don’t get why the Obama Administration does not force the banks to start lending. It just does not make any sense to me. Leadership needs to come from the top and we’re not seeing much of it right now. Secondly, the issue of raising taxes. Guess what? When our country has record deficits and can’t pay its bills year after year, uh I think we need to raise taxes people. Why is this such a hard concept? The rich need to be taxed more. It’s not that hard. But across the board, we should all be paying more taxes. In return, our government would have the money to maintain our roads, to provide us with healthcare, and to build a quality education system. What kind of a first world nation are we that our schools do not have basic supplies like paper, pencils, books, etc? I realize that I am advocating a move towards a socialist country, but does that not seem like a more humane and fair approach to governing? Do we really want to be a nation of people that says, “No, you don’t deserve healthcare because you don’t make enough money.”? Really? REALLY? That is the kind of person and the kind of country we want to be? Yes, people game the welfare system. People game the system all over the planet, this is not simply an American problem. But basic human rights dictates that one’s citizens should have access to clean drinking water, basic medical care, an education, and an opportunity to succeed in life. If the government dedicated enough money towards programs such as these, then generations of Americans to come would have the opportunity to better our country and to give back to the country a return on its investment in its own population.

Issue 3 – The Media. I am a news junkie. On downtimes at work, I am constantly reading either local papers, The New York Times, Google News, or any number of other global news sources like the BBC. It has just begun to affect me recently in ways I can’t put my finger on. Every headline seems to have to do with something horrific; murder, genocide, bombings, floods, apathy, conflict, and the lists go on and on. I like to know what is going on as much as anyone, but the stories of suffering, war, discrimination, famine, pollution, lack of opportunity and loss take their toll after repeated exposure to them. I’m going to have to take a break for a while. The worst part about these stories is that there seems to be nothing one can do about any of it. How am I in a position to help a drowning family in Pakistan? How am I to restart the Israeli/Palestinian peace talks? How can I help to improve local schools in my neighborhood?

Issue 4 – The Environment. The Global Warming people are on media channels ALL the time and they continue to sound the alarm on reducing global emissions, but no one cares. The global meeting on Global Warming in Copenhagen this year was a joke; no one committed to anything concrete and the problems continue to be ignored. To be honest, I am in my mid-thirties and probably will not live to see the broad effects of global warming hit the planet. But for the generations of kids that will follow us, our grandchildren and great grandchildren, the world we are wrecking for them is going to be a far different one than the one that exists today. I do not understand why the U.S. government does not push harder for broad changes across the board in energy policy and environmental concerns. The French have been using nuclear power as their primary source of electricity since the 80s and generate enormous amounts of energy with no fossil fuel emissions. Yes, we are a nation with a lot of coal resources. But this fuel is also incredibly harmful to the environment in the current ways it is used. Until cleaner coal technologies are developed, our country should be pursuing other sources of power. Every home in the Southwest U.S. should be required to have solar panels on it; wind farms should be built in areas where it makes sense to have them and they shouldn’t be tied up in local lawsuits because some rich person’s view of the ocean might be obstructed. People need to remember that there is no ‘I’ in the word team. We are all in this together and sacrifices will be required to achieve solutions to global warming as we confront this problem in the next decade. Finally, does anyone besides me question whether recycling is truly working or not? I diligently sort through all of my trash and separate it before placing it out by the curb in a variety of brightly colored containers. But where is it all going? How many products do we see in stores that state ‘made from recycled materials’? Is anyone in the media following the trash companies to make sure they aren’t just dumping all of this material into the Pacific Ocean trash pile? Lots of questions with few answers.

Issue 5 – Politics. The gridlock of Washington has proven to be nothing short of a one of the ugliest fights in political history that I can remember. The Republicans in the Senate, both last year and this year, have systematically opposed almost every piece of legislation put forth by the Democrats in the majority. Is this really something that they want recorded in history for their children and grandchildren to witness? Is this a badge of honor? That Grandpa decided to play the spoiled child and not vote for any piece of legislation because that’s what his political leadership told him to do? Frankly, I just don’t get it. I get that the Republicans lost the election. I get that they are sore about that fact. But obstruction is not a political tool; it’s a cowardly tactic and the behavior associated with a spoiled child, not an adult. When our country is having a difficult time and finds itself in one of the worst economic states in its history, it’s not the time to play games like these. Republicans continue to stall on environmental reform, immigration reform, energy policy, and a host of other issues. Considering that Hispanics are fast approaching the majority of people in this country, it is unthinkable that Republicans have chosen to deny the people who do their dirty work (ie. clean their homes, do their dry-cleaning, cook their food, raise their children) a place at the table. These policies are simply driving one of the largest (and growing) voting blocks into the hands of Democrats at a tremendous cost. Nice going braniacs. Sarah Palin / Glenn Beck 2012. The Republicans are definitely on the losing side of history, but their delays and obstructions now will only prove to haunt them and all of the global citizens affected by these issues in both the short and long terms.

I could continue, but this rant is already far too long. I don’t know how people deal with things like this day in and day out; it simply gets to be too much to take in. For me, personally, my life has been pretty good the last few years. I am grateful for this, but being raised Catholic and by Depression-era parents, there is always this fatalistic sense that things such as my job or my health could disappear at any time. I fight against this constantly, but it is hard to get rid of completely. I went to therapy a few years ago when I was contemplating leaving the airlines and the therapist tried to convince me that these feelings were not based in reality. So it is something I need to remind myself of and something that Ketut Liyer (of Eat, Pray, Love fame) told me when I was in Bali. “Believe me, no BELIEVE ME. You will always be ok in this life. You very lucky, VERY LUCKY. Always have good health and good luck in this life.”

I am going to take Ketut’s words to heart tonight as I fall asleep and try to calm the racing thoughts that normally occupy my head.

Thanks for listening all, hope you are doing well. Cuidate.